To be the best, Hamden beat 'the best'

NEW HAVEN -- The Division I state hockey championship game was so good that two postgame celebrations were needed in front of an estimated 3,200 at Yale's Ingalls Rink.

In a game that featured non-stop, up-and-down action, sophomore forward Nick Amarone scored with 2 minutes, 4 seconds left to lead No. 4 seed Hamden to a thrilling 6-5 win over Southern Connecticut Conference foe and No. 2-seeded Fairfield Prep for the title.

Amarone took a pass at the right post from Adam Devine and worked the puck toward the left side of the net. He lifted the puck over Fairfield Prep goalie Spencer Sodokoff into the left corner.

Forward C.J. Carignan had two goals and an assist, and goalie Ryan Amarone, Nick's cousin, made 33 saves for Hamden (17-5-1).

Advertisement

"That was definitely the biggest goal of my high school career," Amarone said. "I came off the wing and got a great pass from Adam Devine. At first, I didn't think it was going in, and when it did, it really felt great.

"They beat us twice in the regular season, and we couldn't let them beat us again. This is the game we needed to beat them. It feels great to get the title, and I look at it as something I can use to build on for the future."

Hamden repeated as champion, the first time a public school has won back-to-back titles since the Green Dragons did it in 1975 and '76 (Hamden coach Bill Verneris played on those teams). Hamden has won a record 17 state titles.

A late penalty was called on Devine with 3 seconds left in the game. But as the penalty was called, the time ran off the clock, and the Hamden players threw their helmets and gloves in the air in celebration.

But the officials gathered the coaches and said, because of the penalty, 3 seconds still remained. After five minutes of cleaning the thrown equipment off the ice, the game resumed. The final 3 seconds played out, and a wild celebration began...again.

"I'm still trying to figure out what happened those last few seconds," Verneris said. "All I kept thinking was Prep was going to score, and they were going to make history against Hamden. Fortunately, I had my best guys out there with Jim Burt, John Teulings, P.J. Vakos and Steve Sorrentino to kill off those 3 seconds.

"This championship is more special than the one last year, because we beat Prep for the title this time. I've always said to be the best you have to beat the best, and that Prep program is the best in the state."

In a wild up-and-down first period, the teams, fittingly, came away with a tie at 2.

Devine put Hamden ahead 1-0 1:55 into the game. Brandon Dadio sent a pass from the bottom of the left circle to Devine in front of the left post. Devine one-timed a shot for the lead.

Prep (18-4) tied it when center Bryan Puffer's shot rebounded to Anthony Unker at the left post. Unker wristed a shot into the lower right corner.

Hamden regained the lead when Burt scored on a wrap-around goal at 10:11. He controlled the puck behind the Prep net and worked it around the left post and jammed it in to give Hamden a 2-1 lead.

Prep's Darric White stunned the Hamden partisans when he scored with 1.2 seconds left after a faceoff. At the Hamden right circle, Prep's Unker won the faceoff, passed to Jackson Bargiello, who got the puck to White. His slap shot went inside the right post to tie the game at 2.

Prep outshot Hamden 14-11 in the second period, but it was Hamden that came away with a one-goal lead.

With Sodokoff being pressured on the right side, forward Pat Lynch wristed a shot near the post to give Hamden a 3-2 lead at 2:33. White responded with a power-play goal at 5:02 to tie it at 3.

Hamden then took a 4-3 lead at the second intermission, thanks to a five-on-three man advantage. Prep's Matt Brophy served time for slashing and teammate Lucas Dennison was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty. Devine's shot from the left wing rebounded off Sodokoff to Carignan, whose rising shot went into the upper right corner at 9:06.

In the third period, Prep's Tom Worsfold tied the game at 4 at 3:41. The teams then traded goals, setting up the opportunity that made Nick Amarone the hero of the day.

"I think Hamden was a little hungrier around the net than we were," Prep coach Matt Sather said. "I really feel for my kids because they put in a lot of work and effort to improve and develop over the season. I really thought this would have been more of a defensive (low-scoring) game."